The first XI: An unofficial sneak peek at the 2019 U20s

I mean, to be fair many of them were so good their clubs wouldn't release them. We were still pretty good from the wings besides that, it just seems like 97/98 strikers available fell apart before the U20 WC.

 

Who are the leading candidates to start at the fullback spots?

 

Was kinda hoping there are some guys in the 99 pool who might be good enough to push the 17s.

 

Outside of the U17 pool, '99s Tijuana U20 RB Angel Uribe, LAG U17/18 RB Aristotle Zarris, and Sounders 2 LB Jake Morris could be in the mix to start. '99 dual-national fullbacks playing for other countries include RB Corey Anton and LB Edwin Lara, though I'm skeptical they would jump ship to the US for this cycle.

 

Lara's an interesting case. its been a while since he jumped ship to Mexico...................and how many youth caps does he have with them? One official match at the U17 World Cup. I know that much. It was their loss to Nigeria if my memory serves me correctly. He's been with them a lot, but how important have them made him?

When that tweet came out about a youngster "rejoining" USYNTs, Lara did spring to mind.

 

Philly Union left back Matthew Real ('99) has significant USL experience at this point. He and Jose Alfaro ('99) from the Chicago Fire have been frequent call-ups at left back with this age group. But I don't have much of a feel for how good they are.

 

Portland's Harold Hanson is playing right back a lot for T2, and is transitioning from at attacking position. I've not seen him play this year, but he has YNT experience, and could be an option if he develops as a defender .

 

Based on our Yanks on Foreign YNTs thread, it doesn't appear so. Not one callup for their 2017 U20 cycle. He got a few callups to their U18s and one to their U21s.

 

There are two amateur 99s who have played a bit of LB in the USL this year as well: LA's Ian Lonergan and Saint Louis FC's Aedan Stanley. Stanley has popped up in YNT camps in the past, I believe, and has started their last three matches. STLFC conceded two goals over those 270 minutes, so he probably wasn't totally awful at least.

I also don't have a sense of their long-term potential.

 

Used to play for FC Golden State here in So Cal. Saw him play a couple times at CM against the Galaxy. So, obviously Portland has recruited him up there. Explosive athlete with solid technical skills, and a change to RB seems like a good move.

 

Helpful list by Balerion of potential players who could be on this team. I bolded the non-prominent players that might emerge from USL who would seem to be big benefits from their club team's having USL programs. Kind of subjective, but thats not really the point here. All these players are probably benefiting from the new emphasis from MLS teams on getting their younger players minutes in USL.

 

It's nice that there are quite a few fullbacks getting playing time at this level. Bailey and Hanson are RBs; Lonergan, Real, and Stanley are LBs.

Of course, while there is safety numbers, there are no guarantees. Once upon a time the U20s were said to be looking good at LB at the beginning of the cycle because Juan Pablo Ocegueda, Sean Cunningham, and Danny Potts were competing for time.

 

The second-highest scorer in the U18 DA this season was Kyle Holcomb, a '00 forward from Pateadores. I've never heard anything about him, but I'm curious - 26 goals in 27 games is good stuff for a player young enough to be eligible for the U16 DA.

Do any of our SoCal types like @Peretz48 or @ielag know anything about him?

 

Different subject, but if there is an under-the-radar thing to watch with this group, it's having quality depth in winger type a-mids and not just in natural central a-mids. I know Ferreira and Carleton look like great starting wingers on paper, but after them what do we have? Also, Ferreira brings speed to the position that Carleton does not. I like Carleton as a player, but I am a bit concerned that a 4-2-3-1 formation with, e.g., Carleton--Pomykal--Taitague as the a-mids won't have the counterattacking prowess that it would have with Ferreira on the field. Basically, this is a long-winded way of saying that Ferreira brings qualities that I'm not sure anyone else does. I don't have a ton of confidence in Weah as a winger after his U-17 qualifying performances, though his speed is certainly impressive.

 

Was with the Galaxy a couple years ago. Not sure if he felt like his playing time would diminish with Negrete, Becerra, etc but he's put up huge numbers since joining Pateadores.

 

Who plays the #10 for Pateadores?

 

I'm pretty sure Stanley is a CB who can play LB, but I was also interested why Holcomb puts up such goal scoring numbers. I watched his 2015-16 season highlight video, and I didn't notice a particular reason for him scoring so many goals other than that he's a good finisher who is kind of okay at every aspect. I'm pretty sure he hasn't been called into any YNT's before, and I find it strange. You would figure this guy should've been called up by now.

 

Ebobisse was a freshman in 2014. 99s on the Ebobisse Plan would be rising sophomores.

 

Ebobisse IIRC was able to skip his senior year of high school (or he was just already ahead by a grade) and enroll in college early. That is never likely to be an option for more than a tiny percentage of players.